I Verily Believe I Must Have Died, Together With My Slave, Whom I
Had Bought At A High Price, Had I Not Sold Him For Half His Value, That
I Might Save His Drink To Supply My Own Urgent Wants, And Save My Own
Life.
SECTION XVI.
_Of the Kingdom of Orissa and the River Ganges_.
This was a fair and well regulated kingdom, through which a man might
have travelled with gold in his hand without danger, so long as it was
governed by its native sovereign who was a Gentile, and resided in the
city of _Catecha_[161] six days journey inland. This king loved
strangers, especially merchants who traded in his dominions, insomuch
that he took no customs from them, neither did he vex them with any
grievous impositions, only that each ship that came thither paid some
small affair in proportion to her tonnage. Owing to this good treatment
twenty-five ships, great and small, used to lade yearly in the port of
Orissa, mostly with rice and with different kinds of white cotton
cloths, oil of _zerzerline_ or _verzino_ which is made from a seed, and
answers well for eating or frying fish, lac, long pepper, ginger, dry
and candied mirabolans, and great store of cloth made from a kind of
silk which grows on trees requiring no labour or cultivation, as when
the _bole_ or round pod is grown to the size of an orange, all they have
to do is to gather it. About sixteen years before this, the Pagan king
of Orissa was defeated and slain and his kingdom conquered, by the king
of _Patane_[162], who was also king of the greatest part of Bengal.
After the conquest of Orissa, this king imposed a duty of 20 per centum
on all trade, as had been formerly paid in his other dominions. But this
king did not enjoy his acquisitions long, being soon conquered by
another tyrant, who was the great Mogul of Delhi, Agra, and Cambaia,
against whom the king of Patane made very little resistance.
[Footnote 161: Cuttack, at the head of the Delta of the Mahamuddy or
Gongah river, in lat. 20 deg. 32' N. lon. 86 deg. 9' E. is probably here meant,
It is only about 45 miles from the sea, but might have been six days
journey from the port where the author took shelter, which probably was
Balasore. - E.]
[Footnote 162: Probably so called from residing at Patna, called Patane
in the text. - E.]
Departing from Orissa I went to the harbour of _Piqueno_ in Bengal, 170
miles to the east from Orissa. We went in the first place along the
coast for 54 miles when we entered the river Ganges. From the mouth of
this river to a place called _Satagan_, where the merchants assemble
with their commodities, are 100 miles, to which place they row up the
river along with the flood tide in _eighteen_ hours. This river ebbs and
flows as it does in the Thames, and when the ebb begins, although their
barks are light and propelled with oars like foists, they cannot row
against the ebb tide, but must make fast to one of the banks of the
river and wait for next flood. These boats are called _bazaras_ and
_patuas_, and row as well as a galliot or any vessel I have ever seen.
At the distance of a good tide rowing before reaching _Satagan_ we come
to a place called _Buttor_, which ships do not go beyond, as the river
is very shallow upwards. At _Buttore_ a village is constructed every
year, in which all the houses and shops are made of straw, and have
every necessary convenience for the use of the merchants. This village
continues as long as the ships remain there; but when they depart for
the Indies, every man goes to his plot of houses and sets them on fire.
This circumstance seemed very strange to me; for as I passed up the
river to _Satagan_, I saw this village standing, having a great
multitude of people with many ships and bazars; and at my return along
with the captain of the last ship, for whom I tarried, I was amazed to
see no remains of the village except the appearance of the burnt houses,
all having been razed and burnt.
Small ships go up to _Satagan_ where they load and unload their cargoes.
In this port of _Satagan_ twenty-five or thirty ships great and small
are loaded yearly with rice, cotton cloths of various kinds, lac, great
quantities of sugar, dried and preserved mirabolans, long pepper, oil of
_Verzino_, and many other kinds of merchandise. The city of Satagan is
tolerably handsome as a city of the Moors, abounding in every thing, and
belonged formerly to the king of _Patane_ or _Patna_, but is now subject
to the great Mogul. I was in this kingdom four months, where many
merchants bought or hired boats for their convenience and great
advantage, as there is a fair every day in one town or city of the
country. I also hired a bark and went up and down the river in the
prosecution of my business, in the course of which I saw many strange
things.
The kingdom of Bengal has been long under the power of the Mahomedans,
yet there are many Gentile inhabitants. Wherever I speak of Gentiles I
am to be understood as signifying idolaters, and by Moors I mean the
followers of Mahomet. The inhabitants of the inland country do greatly
worship the river Ganges; for if any one is sick, he is brought from the
country to the banks of the river, where they build for him a cottage of
straw, and every day they bathe him in the river. Thus many die at the
side of the Ganges, and after their death they make a heap of boughs and
sticks on which they lay the dead body and then set the pile on fire.
When the dead body is half roasted, it is taken from the fire, and
having an empty jar tied about its neck is thrown into the river.
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